No one asked me about the rumor, which definitely made my day much better. The only thing that made today weird was the fact that Celia was seriously hitting on Jacob.

To be honest, that shouldn't be weird at all. Jacob is an amazing guy. He's smart, friendly, funny, cool, did I say smart? He's super kind and good looking as well. He also knows how to act around girls. I don't know if that's because most of his best friends are girls or if it's because he has a sister. I don't blame girls for going crazy over him; I'll admit that I've had a few crushes on him before.

But Celia?

No, Celia was not good enough for Jacob, and I'm not saying that because I don't like her. She skips class, fails courses and hangs out with the wrong people. Jacob deserves much more. He deserves a girl who is super sweet, cute, smart, honest, and a girl that will love him.

I watched as Celia sat seriously close to him. He looked absolutely uncomfortable. "Why do you think she's flirting with him? I mean, it's so random and out of nowhere." I said, resting my chin on my hand as I watched them.

Santhosh, Ivana's boyfriend, laughed. "He's not your boyfriend. Why are you so worried?" He asked.

"He's my best friend. That's why I'm worried."

He looked at Celia. "Well, I guess you can't trust a girl like her."

I looked at Santhosh. He, as Ivana would say, he rocked the short buzz cut and his swagger was amazing. His black hair made his nice brown eyes stick out. His skin was the same shade as mine and he was the same height as Kero. He was a guy who was really cool. He was a bad boy who was actually not that bad.

"What?" He asked, looking at me.

I shook my head, bringing myself back to earth. "Sorry."

He grinned. He then looked back at Jacob. "You think Jake likes her?"

"No freaking way!" I half yelled.

Jacob and Celia turned around.

I smiled at Jacob but didn't bother looked at Celia. I turned to Santhosh. "There is no way he could like a girl like her! He can do way better!"

Santhosh held his hands up. "Okay, okay. I got it."

And then the bell rang.

I then apologized to Santhosh for blowing up like that, rushed to my locker and ran out the front doors.

Kero was standing where he always stood. I ran to him. "Hello!" I said happily.

He smiled. "Good afternoon."

"So, what are we going to do today?" I asked.

"How about we go home and put your bag away, you should also tell your father that school finished early."

I nodded. I should also ask him about going to Raakshya.

When we got home the first thing I did was call my dad. A man with a strong Indian accent picked up. "Hello. This is Kanuk Kitchen Co., can I help you?"

"Hi! May I speak to Aryan, please? It's his daughter."

"Aryan?" The man asked.

"Yeah."

"Hold on." I heard the man call my father. "Sir? You're daughter wants to speak with you."

"Hello? Aathiray?" I heard my dad say. I could hear the loud noises in the background. My dad was the head painter in the painting section of a kitchen company.

"Hey dad!"

"Why aren't you at school?"

"Oh, today was a half day, and I honestly didn't know."

"Oh... well, it was very responsible of you to come home and call." He sounded very pleased.

I looked over at Kero and smiled. "Thank you! But dad, I'm going to go out." I said.

"Where?"

"Just to the park. I'll be back before you get home." I said.

My dad hesitated. "Is Keroshan coming with you?"

"Yeah." I said.

My dad sighed. "Fine. But be careful, alright?"

"Don't worry dad... and I have one more question..." My dad didn't say anything, probably waiting for me to ask, so I continued. "Kero's going back to Raakshya for the long weekend..."

"Yes?" My dad's voice changed to a more strict voice.

"I was wondering if I could go to..."

"No."

"Dad!" I whined. "Please! I promised my friends there that I would visit!"

"Aathiray. No. I'm sorry but I will not allow you to go there again."

"Daddy! Please! It would make my weekend awesome! Besides, Kero will be there too! He'll take care of me!"

"No."

"Dad!"

He sighed. "We will discuss this when I get home. Bye." He put down the phone.

I groaned as I put away my phone.

"At least he didn't yell at you." Kero said.

I sighed as I put on my shoes. "Common, let's go."

Kero handed me a sweater. "I have a feeling that it's going to get a bit chilly."

"Thank you." I said as I took the sweater and put it on.

Kero and I walked to the park together. No one was out, probably because other kids were still at school. "Would you like something to eat?" Kero asked.

I smiled at him. "I don't have money..." I said.

Kero grinned. "I do."

"What? How?" I asked, shocked.

"Well, your aunt told Chirpy and I that if we do some house work, she'll pay us."

I laughed.

"But she's giving us a seriously good payment for housework." He pulled out a few twenty dollar bills from his back pocket. "I think I have eighty dollars, and all I did was mop the floor yesterday and cut the grass today. Oh, and I helped her cook."

"Lucky duck." I frowned.

"What would you like to eat?" He asked.

I smiled. "Hmm, how about McDonalds?" I suggested.

"As you wish." He said.

We walked to the mall together and after buying our food, we walked back to the park. We sat on one of the benches, like always, and ate. When we were done, I sighed happily. As unhealthy as it was, I always loved McDonalds' burgers. I threw out our garbage and sat next to Kero. "So, what are we going to do when we go back to Raakshya?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I want to find Serpethion and ask him why he was in Ivana's room, but I have a feeling he won't tell me."

"Can you tell me why he's such a jerk again?" I asked.

Kero smiled. "Okay, fine. He is a jerk." He said. "But he is a good friend."

I shook my head. "Doesn't seem like that."

"You need to get to know him better."

"I don't think I want to know him better." I said, bluntly.

Kero nudged me. "Don't be so mean. I don't like that, it's not like you."

I looked at me. "And what do you like about me?" I asked, raising my eyebrow.

He smiled and turned so that he was facing me. "Well, you're nice, very smart, and in some ways you're carefree too." He thought for a second. "You are very smart and you have a strangely good sense of humor. And you have a good heart. Oh, and you have a gorgeous smile." He grinned at me.

I felt my cheeks heat up.

"And you are beautiful." He played with some of my hair.

"Thank you." Was all I could say.

He looked into my eyes for a short while and then smiled. "Why don't you admit the fact that you are unable to breathe when I am this close to you?" He asked.

I let out the breath that I didn't know I was holding. "Why would I want to admit something that is not true?" I asked.

"Of course it isn't true." He said, sarcastically. He then leaned over and kissed me, making my heart jump. He put one hand behind my head and he took my hand with his other. He then pulled away. "I heard that." He said, grinning.

"Heard what?" I asked, trying to catch my breath.

"Your heart."

I took a deep breath. "Well... it's not my fault you have super hearing." I said.

He smiled, but then his smile faded. He leaned back onto the bench and put his arm around my shoulder. He looked away.

"What?" I asked.

He shook his head.

"Are you mad?"

He looked at me and smiled. "Why would I be mad?"

It was then that I saw Celia walking in our direction. I noticed that she had her eyes on Kero and she was smiling.

Kero turned around and looked at her.

She winked at him.

I was a little startled by that but absolutely please when Kero didn't react. I watched him, and he watched her as she walked by. I jabbed my elbow into Kero's chest.

"Ow! What?" Kero asked, rubbing his chest.

I frowned. "Why are you watching her?" I asked, letting the jealousy fill me up.

Kero sighed. "You won't believe it." He said.

"Tell me."

He hesitated. "Don't ask why I didn't see this before, but... she's a Raakshyan."

I stared at him for a second. "What?!"

Kero nodded.

I knew there was something different about her, but really? She was a Raakshyan? I sighed. She gets more and more perfect every day. "So she knows that you are too, right?" I asked.

He nodded. "Possibly... I'm assuming that she only recently changed into one though... because I would have noticed before." Kero said.

"So she just got the choice? Like, the goddess came to her and asked her if she would like to be a Raakshyan?" I asked.

Kero nodded.

"So one of her parents isn't human?"

Kero nodded again.

"Wow. Lucky." I said.

"Lucky?" Kero asked.

I sighed. "I would love to be able to be a Raakshyan." I admitted. "How cool would that be?" I sighed again.

Kero chuckled. "Being a Raakshyan isn't as wonderful as you think it is." Kero said. He then looked away. "Humans have more freedom then we do."

"Well, it's not like I have much freedom. I'm seventeen and I still have to ask my dad if I could go for a walk."

He laughed. "Good point."

"But, what do you think she's going to do now?" I asked. "Now that she's a Raakshyan, I mean."

Kero shrugged. "Whatever she wants to do, it's her life."

I then remembered the fact that she was flirting with Jacob. Could she possibly want Jacob now? Maybe she changed... maybe she's a good girl, now that she's a Raakshyan. But then I remembered her winking at Kero. Nope. She hasn't changed at all.